American Quilt Study Charleston

There was just so much to see and do during this year's American Quilt Study in Charleston...

                                                                 Chintz circa 1820...
it was great but I am still recovering energy!

In addition to the great paper presentations, show and tell, vendors and auction I took a seminar on the color Cheddar,

 toured the Quilt Exhibit at the Charleston museum (wonderful!), and took part in a round-table on string-quilts!

Add that to lots of walking around seeing the Charleston sites and eating way too much good food...it made for a great seminar!

I did bring home a couple of quilt tops, a quilt, and lots of books.  It is a great opportunity to get quilt history and textile books...the only one I missed was one on Chintz...have to go back and get it on Amazon.

I brought home Carpenter's wheel top from the auction.  It has a great collection of browns, pinks and indigo.

The live auction was a lot of fun and the proceeds go to support the American Quilt Study Group.

This is part of a turn of the century Ocean Wave that I picked up in the vendor mall.  This is my third O.W. so I guess you could call that a collection!  It all fits in with a program I do on quilt collecting...like how I rationalize that one!

Blue Scarf...

Sometimes it feels good to work on some of the smaller projects.

A few years ago I made several pieced scarves...saved one and gave the others to sisters and friends at Christmas.  I'm not sure why but this blue one was never finished.  Guess I was through my scarf phase!

 It has some great fabrics (including some hand-printed indigo and men's suiting) in it though so I decided to finish it up and give it to the American Quilt Study Group for the silent auction in September.

And good news...the machine part of the binding on Orca Bay is done...now I just need to put a movie in the DVD player and get to hand-stitching it down.  Definitely could have this big project done by the end of May!

Spring Festival

Yesterday I participated in McCormick, S.C. spring festival.  They had a really nice quilt display in the old Dorm Mill Cotton Gin at the edge of downtown.

I started out with only 5-6 appointments but had quiet a few walk-ins.  Interesting day!

Had quite a few signature quilts.  It is funny how is seems that one type of quilt overtakes a day!  One program I did there was mostly wedding ring quilts...another day lots of wool quilts...and another was almost entirely African American quilts.

First the quilt that made the hairs on my neck stand up.  Remember last June I bought a large box of unfinished quilts tops and blocks at an auction in South Carolina?  There were a couple signature blocks in the box made around 1930.

The owner of this quilt said she believed it to be from a group of quilters in McCormick county and it included relatives of both her and her husband.

What do you think?  Could these blocks I found at auction have been made to go into the McCormick Quilting Bee quilt?

Were they put aside because the embroidery in the quilt was all done with black thread and these have red and pink?  The block is an unusual one - a variation of Brackman's #1802.   I'm going to contact the owner and find out if these names are on her quilt.

Another interesting 1930's signature quilt came from Connecticut.  Names of the owner parents are embroidered on this quilt.

Isn't obvious the reason for the quilt being made but many like it were done as fundraisers...you pay a nickle or a dime and your name is embroidered onto a block then the quilt is either sold or raffled.  This quilt is really well done and I am happy to hear that it is with a family that cherishes it.

This last signature quilt is from Ohio.  The owner purchased it many years ago at auction.

It has a wonderful collection of fabrics and names.  (BTW...all photos were taken with permission of the owners.)

I also handed out many postcards to publicize the guild's quiltshow in October and gave several antique quilt enthusiasts the booklet on the American Quilt Study Group.  I hope to see one or two of them at seminar in Charleston this September!

More from the study seminar

Last night unpacked all my purchases from the American Quilt Study Seminar in Lincoln.  Hope to get photos today.  Mainly I bought books this year...though the carpenter's wheel block in the photo at the top of the post was impossible for me to resist!

                                   "Hollywood" one of the Mountain Mist Quilts recently acquired by the IQSCM

                      Isn't it interesting to see the solid colors that are again so popular ...it all comes back around!
After all the energy from the past few days I'm having a hard time settling in and getting back to sewing.  I keep going back to my notes and checking things either online or in my collection.  Hopefully I'll settle down a bit today!

Also I came back to a bit of the neighborhood crisis...leave it to say a cat-hater has threatened to either run-over or worse to any cat he finds outside.  Unfortunately the two people he said it to do not know where he lives...just that he lives in the neighborhood.  So I am taking it on and tonight am going door to door to find him...I waited a day to get my "Irish" under control (I came by this red hair honestly...)  I am hoping it is a cultural misunderstanding and he just needs to learn that in this country poisoning another person's pet is not acceptable and if done intentionally, illegal.  Realize this face to face talk was my third option...my first involved my military training, the second taking his photo and posting on warning notices around the neighborhood (I'm keeping these options in reserve!)  Wish me luck....

Back from Quilt Study...

                                                    A unique chintz applique block from a quilt at the IQSC&M
I am back from the American Quilt Study Seminar in Lincoln.  I haven't unpacked yet so this will be a short post...more photos than writing (I know you'd rather the pictures!)

                                                                Two quilts from the Indigo Exhibit at the IQSC&M
If you are interested in quilt history but never been to seminar you really need to treat yourself and check it out next year (it is in Charleston, SC which is a great spot too!)  The seminar is broken up into many types of events...

                                                                In the work room at the study center...
First there are tours.  This year I took tour of the International Quilts Study Center and Museum...the staff there were really great.  Not only did we see the exhibits hanging in the three galleries but we got a behind the scene tour...and who doesn't like that!

                                                                       Storage area of the Study Center....
Then there are study centers that this year ranged from World War II Quilts with Sue Reich, Beauty Secrets: 150 years of History in One Quilt Pattern with Bill Volckening, to Digital Imaging/Imagining: The 21st Century.   There was a long list of study centers so something for everybody!

There are research paper presentations that also span a wide range of topics.  The papers are published in AQSG's annual Uncoverings.  And yes,  there is more...

                                                                  Julie Silber running the live auction....

                                                                   The "Julietes" who help with the auction....

              My table doing its part to keep the bidding going...money goes to the American Quilt Study Group
There are roundtable discussions.  I went to the one on 300 years of plaids and was excited to see Roberta Horton and her sister attending!  There were also posters sessions where ongoing research was presented.  A book sale, a vendor area, a silent auction, a very not-silent live auction, and two exhibits - Quilt Study: Quilt Revival, and Pot-of-Flowers.

                                                         Sandra Starley and her Mom at the Quilt Revival Exhibit
There is also a show and tell night....

                                             Bill Volckening with an amazing applied Chintz which he is researching....

                                                                   Mary Bywater Cross with a wool quilt....

                                                            Cindy Rennels with a gorgeous Russian Sunflower....
So I hope you got the picture...there was a lot to do.  This doesn't even include the time just talking quilts with anyone you meet at breakfast, in the elevator, in the van on the ride to the airport....no wonder my brain is just a bit tired...but very happy!

Old fabric "friends"

I've been digging through the vintage fabric and quilt top piles looking for candidates to bring to the American Quilt study Group Seminar this weekend in Lincoln.  I want to avoid checking a bag so bringing a quilt may not be an option.  A top however I can fit even into my carry-on bag!

The roundtable discussion I signed up for is on plaids.  I have several quilts that would be great for this but tops..not so much.  The top in the photo above was at the bottom of a large pile.  I hadn't seen it in ages!  The blocks are around 6 inches (give or take a 1/2 inch!)

Lots of interesting fabrics including some plaids,  lots of madder and a variety of double pinks...think I'll keep looking though...I've got to have one that has more plaids than this!

Of course I could just add a couple of these Dove in the Window blocks with the printed plaids to add some variety....

I also went through  some of the vintage fabrics I've gathered through the years just in case I needed to do some restoration on one of my quilts.  Some of these have sat in the box for over 20 years!

With Dobby on guard duty I know I'll have that fabric when I need it!

So now you see why this packing has taken me so long!

Packing time!

When I used to pack a suitcase weekly (sometimes multiple times a week!) for work it was easy.  From start to finish it was a done deal in under 15 minutes!  Now that I only pack 6-7 times a year it takes me forever...

                                                                           Brownie "helping" to pack.....
I am heading out to Lincoln for the American Quilt Study Group Seminar (AQGS.)  I haven't attended one in several years so I am really excited.  So much to learn and see.  Plus I get to meet folks that I have "known" via my blog and facebook!

                                                                  Maryland Applique Crib Quilt circa 1840
So first there is the problem of what clothes to pack...then what projects to bring to work on in the room and during at least one long wait in the airport and then finally what to bring for show and tell....Needless to say my closet it now turned up-side down only to be rivaled by the antique quilt collection which is now draped across every surface of the house...well, except for the kitchen...

                                                                                 Strippy star, circa 1920
In addition to getting myself ready I have to get things organized for my DH back here at home.  He is doing much better and is even back to work 3-4 days a week.  However, he still gets tried quickly and is limited on what he can eat.  So I am making him a menu to use while I am gone (the ingredients are all in the cupboards.)  Last night he finally gave himself his own shot and this morning made his own oatmeal...there was much grumbling involved but it came out fine.

Same but different...

I had a professor that used that phrase a lot - "same but different." That was sort of my approach to two projects I worked on yesterday.

First is my basket block for Victoria's Pixie Dust Gathering. I did a basket using the pinks and greens she sent.

That morning I read Barbara Brackman's blog, http//barbarabrackman.blogspot.com, where she showed the block she made for the American Quilt Study Groups Endowment Committee fundraiser. So inspired I also made a 4 inch block with some of my reproduction scraps. I wish I could make it to the Seminar this fall in California but it looks like I will have to wait another year. If you are interested in quilt history you should check out this orgnaization and Barbara Brackman's blog.I will have a lot of envelopes to put in the mail today....